Page 12 of All In

When Chloe gets back with our lemonades, Darby stands to leave. He grabs my phone from the cushion next to me and holds it out, with a hopeful smile on his lips. "Wanna give me your number? Maybe we could grab a movie or a pizza sometime."

Sitting up straighter, I unlock my phone and hand it back to him. "Sure. Text yourself from my phone, so we have each other's numbers." I'm rewarded with another smile. This one makes the dimples in his cheeks pop. I am a sucker for dimples.

Darby types into my phone, and I hear the ping of the text going through to his. "I'll text you this week. See ya later, Natalie. Night Chloe." He walks off toward a group of guys I haven't met and grabs a beer.

Chloe makes herself comfy on the chair. "Watch out for Darby. He's a bit of a player."

"Huh. He seemed cool."

"Just telling you what I've heard."

"Thanks."

"So, tell me about you, Nat. What do you do for fun?"

"Well, when I'm not dancing, I like to listen to music and sketch."

"Oh, sketch what?"

"All sorts of things. I like to sketch fashion, people, different images. Like the way you're dressed right now would be a perfect pic. The purple ribbons in your hair would pop. I'd put you right on this chair so the red would offset the purple. The colors would jump off the page. I've been accumulating these Copic makers over the last few months, and I love them."

"That sounds cool. You'll have to sketch me something. A Natalie Sinclair original."

"Ha. I wish. I'm not that good. It's just something I do for fun. What about you? Please tell me there is something more to do in this town besides football."

"If Texas is the high school football capital of the country, Pennsylvania is the next biggest. It is huge here, but there are other things to do. We have an old school movie theater in town that only shows black and white classics. I love to go there and catch Casablanca or Rear Window, something old and amazing. I'm boring. I love to read."

"Me too! What do you read?" I may be a little too excited to hear this.

"Romance."

"So do I! We can have a book club." Really cool, Natalie. A book club. That's gonna win you friends.

"We totally should. We can read the same thing, and then have a girl's night to talk about our new book boyfriends. My bestie Sabrina will definitely want in on this, too."

We talk more about the school, the different cliques I can expect to see. Chloe and Brady have only gone to the Prep, so she is a walking encyclopedia of everything to know and expect. Who to stay away from and who some of the genuinely nice people are.

It's getting late, I've had a few drinks, and I'm starting to get tired. I tell myself that I am just going to close my eyes for a second. At least I thought it was only a second. The next thing I know, I hear Brady and Chloe talking.

"She fell asleep a few minutes ago. Where's Cooper? Nat needs to go home."

I open my eyes and see Brady squatting down at the side of the chair. God, he is a sight. The light is framing his face, making his whiskey-colored eyes brighter than before. His smile makes my insides flutter, and I want to kick myself for even thinking that.

"I'm awake, guys. Jet lag is still kicking my ass. I guess it's going to take a few days."

"How about I get you home, Nat? It's only a few streets over from here. I can walk you home. Chloe, I'll come back and get you after. Okay?"

Chloe gets up. "Don't worry about me. Sebastian said he was leaving soon. I'll have him drop me off. Nat, I'll call you tomorrow. We can go shopping for your school uniforms and figure out what day next week you want to come down to the beach with me, too."

Murphy and Sebastian walk over to us, catching the last part of Chloe's statement.

Murphy's smile grows twice as big. "Party at the beach house? Count us in." Murphy looks to Bash, who nods then continues, "You've got to do it after Thursday's scrimmage is over. Coach is giving us a four-day weekend for Labor Day."

"Why yes, Murphy, let us plan our girl's beach day around your football schedule."

Chloe is throwing down the sarcasm, but Murphy isn't picking it up. I might love her even more.

"Perfect." Murphy kisses Chloe on the top of the head and walks away.

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